


The Legend of Shabu Shabu

by coolohoh



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-09-23 09:04:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9649076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolohoh/pseuds/coolohoh
Summary: A long time ago, there lived a dragon called Shabu Shabu...





	

"Last one to the temple is a loser!" Jun yelled as he scrambled as fast as his little legs could carry him, trying to get a headstart over his older brothers.

It was no use though, his second brother Sho tore past him with his long(er) legs, and before he even reached the quarter mark, third brother Aiba, the most athletic of them all, overtook him with ease.

Having lost, Jun slowed down to a jog as he watched Aiba overtake Sho just as they were reaching the temple. Behind him, his eldest brother Ohno was trying to jog, but kept in the same spot and flailing his arms about as his twin brother Kazu was pulling him back. Ohno was three years older, much stronger than Nino or himself, and clearly just fooling around, but it still made a comical sight.

Jun reached the temple entrance in third place as usual. Ohno and Nino were still stuck together, moving along at snail’s pace. Finally, Ohno wriggled free of his little brother and dashed across the home straight, leaving Nino trudging along to chants of “loser”.

The five frisky boys bounced and walked along the long corridor of the temple. Stopping by to the pond to admire the turtles. The old man selling turtle feed by the pond to temple visitors shooed the boys off angrily. They were regular visitors to the temple after all, and he’d had his wares stolen by the pesky twins on more than one occasion.

“If they don’t charge people for food, why do they charge the food for turtles?” Nino had retorted angrily when berated by his mom.

His mom could only shake her head in dismay. Horrified and yet secretly proud of her child’s acumen.

They continued walking up the temple grounds, down a long corridor leading them deeper into the maze of prayer halls and pagodas. Along the way, Ohno stopped to admire a styrofoam sculpture of a dragon sitting in front of a giant rock.

The face of the rock was filled with words and inscriptions that the young boys could not understand.

“Ne ne, what’s the writing on the rock about?” Alba asked, looking towards his eldest brother for an answer.

Ohno merely tilted his head and shrugged, which didn’t quite surprise Aiba because Ohno was constantly getting scolded by his parents for his poor grades in school.

“Sho nii-san?” Alba asked as he tilted his head hopefully towards his second brother.

Sho was the smart one after all, if anyone could read the inscription, it would be Sho.

Sho stared at the strange inscription intently for several minutes before finally giving up. He too had no idea what the inscription meant.

As Aiba started to turn away from the rock in disappointment, Nino motioned for his brothers to gather around.

“I know what the rock says” He whispered excitedly, eyebrows wriggling up and down in excitement.

“Oh what what?” Aiba asked enthusiastically.

“It’s about… The legend of Shabu Shabu.” Nino said with as much dramatic flair as a four year old could muster.

“Shabu Shabu? What’s that?” Aiba asked.

“You baka! It’s the name of that dragon of course!” Nino chided as he pointed to the dragon that Ohno was still staring at intently.

“Right? Onii-san?” Nino look to his eldest brother for support.

Ohno merely hummed nodded in agreement.

“Oooh! It’s a dragon! Cool! Does it breath fire?” Aiba exclaimed.

“No you baka, it’s not any old dragon, it’s the Shabu Shabu! It’s a terrifying monster that shoots lightning out from its eyes!” Nino stated with an air of authority, secretly pleased at himself for coming up with the lightning idea.

“You’re just making this up, you can’t read the inscription.” The ever so skeptical Sho declared.

“No I’m not!” Nino crossed his arms defiantly.

“You can’t read it.” Sho huffed.

“I can’t read but I can hear.” Nino huffed back.

“I heard the tour guide explaining it.” Nino explained.

The temple was a popular tourist spot and often huge groups of tourists would come trooping in, led by tour guides waving flags.

“Swear it!” Sho demanded.

“I swear it’s true!” Nino declared.

“It’s true, I was there too, I heard it.” Jun helpfully offered.

Nino gave Jun a grateful look and a small smile appeared on Jun’s face. They were twins after all; they could see each other’s mind as clear as day.

Jun’s word seemed to be enough for Sho, for he walked off grumpily deeper into the temple grounds.

“Tell me more about Shabu Shabu!” Aiba cooed, never one to pass over a good story.

“Well… The tour guide said that it’s a very dangerous monster… And it’s trapped by ancient spells behind the rock.” Nino said as a matter of factly.

“Woah! Behind the rock? Is it… Very dangerous?” Aiba exclaimed as he reached out to touch the dragon statue.

“Don’t touch it!” Nino yelled, a look of horror on his face.

His sudden yelp had the opposite effect and Aiba’s hand slammed down on the dragon, causing a huge chunk of styrofoam to come flying off.

A look of horror filled the boys’ faces as they watch the styrofoam piece land on the floor.

“Oh no… Look what you’ve done Aiba-nii…” Nino cried.

“I think... we should go…” Aiba stammered as he eyed the exposed whites of the dragon interior.

The four boys scattered off to join Sho.

“You really shouldn’t have done that Aiba… Now we are all doomed!” Nino whined as they hurried.

“Eh….? What? What did I do!” Aiba asked innocently.

“You disrespected the Shabu Shabu!” Nino accused.

“The statue is there as an offering to the Shabu Shabu and you destroyed it!” Nino continued, “Now we are all cursed!"

“Eh, but why would we be cursed?” Aiba asked, not understanding Nino’s logic.

“Because the Shabu Shabu is a bad monster!” Jun butted in.

“Why is it a bad monster?” Aiba questioned.

“Because all monsters are bad!” Nino retorted, annoyed by his brother’s lack of common sense.

“But why are dragons bad, the other animals are not bad, I like animals!” Aiba sulked.

“Because dragons eat the other animals,” Jun tried to explain, hoping that he wasn’t ruining his twin’s story.

“And they eat humans too!” Nino added.

“Humans? They can’t eat humans, it’s not allowed! You’re lying again!” Sho snorted indignantly.

“Why not?” Nino retorted back.

“Because… because there are laws against it!” Sho argued.

Nino rolled his eyes.

“Shabu Shabu is a dragon nii-san! Dragons don’t follow rules!” Nino snapped.

Unable to think of a comeback, Sho sulked away in a corner and watched as Aiba peppered Nino with more questions.

“Tell me more!” Aiba demanded.

Elsewhere, Ohno had settled down by the side walk and was drawing Dragon Ball Z on the sketchpad that he carried in his pocket all the time.

The boys settled down on a stone bench as Nino started telling the story.

“A long time ago there was a dangerous dragon named Shabu Shabu. It’s a really really huggggeee dragon that is like this long…” Nino gestured wildly with his hands.

“He would go around and eat humans! And shoot lightning into the sky, and when it flies around its wings will create thunderstorms!” Nino said as he nodded his head.

“But I didn’t see wings on the dragon just now…” Aiba muttered as he cocked his head in curiosity.

“Of course it has wings, baka! Else how can it fly? And we all know that dragons can fly.” Nino retorted.

“And then what happened?” Aiba asked.

“Because too many people died, the head chief president super monk went to seal it! Behind the rock!” Nino exclaimed.

“Yeah! Seal it, like Narruto!” Jun added excitedly.

“Only that the Shabu Shabu is real.” Nino hastily added as he shot Jun a death glare.

“But Naruto is real too!” Aiba added enthusiastically.

“Of course!” Nino agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

Jun nodded along as well, smirking. It was great having an idiot for an older brother at times.

“So if Shabu Shabu is sealed, why do people still give offerings?” The sharp minded Sho asked.

“Because…. The seal is weakening!” Nino exclaimed, his mind working in overdrive.

“So that’s why there has been so many thunderstorms lately?” Sho asked.

Nino nodded. Trust Sho to come up with something that he hadn’t even thought of.

Nino felt a little tug on his sleeve.

“Look,” Ohno exclaimed proudly as he showed off a page of his sketch book.

It was a winged dragon shooting lightning from its eyeballs. The other boys looked at the drawing in awe. They all respected elder brother for his artistic talent.

“Here, you can have it.” Ohno said as he tore off the page and gave it to Nino.

“Thank you Onii-san, I love you!” Nino declared as he gave Ohno a bear hug.

“Give it to me! I want it too!” Jun exclaimed as he snatched the picture from Nino.

Nino didn’t manage to run fast enough, and Jun managed to grab hold of an end of the paper.

The drawing was ripped into two in an instant.

Seeing the precious drawing from his beloved brother ripped apart, Nino collapsed on the floor and started bawling.

“Look what you did! I hate you, I hate you!” Nino shrieked.

As if on cue, lightning flashed across the skies and thunder rumbled in the distance. Dark clouds started blocking out the sun and suddenly, the familiar temple looked eerie and menacing.

“Oh no, it’s the curse, the curse!” Aiba wailed and started sobbing on the floor together with Nino.

Seeing his twin brother cry, Jun broke down and started crying as well. Ohno stood there transfixed and unsure of what to do.

As the first drops of rain started falling, the boys realised that they were out in the open and should get back into the shelter.

Sniffing, Sho pulled his brothers off the ground and dragged them past the turtle pond and towards the now terrifying corridor.

None of them wanted to go past the Shabu Shabu again, but there was no other way out of the temple. The boys ran past the rock as quickly as their short legs could carry them, eager to leave the scary dragon behind. Even Nino was starting to get scared and believe in his own story.

When the five kids arrived home wet, cold, crying and frightened, Satomi-mama thought she would get a heart attack.

After calming them down (all of the boys refused to say what happened) and giving them a hot bath, warm but five hungry boys trooped out into the dining room.

“Okaasan, what’s for dinner?” The always hungry Aiba asked.

“It’s shabu shabu my dear. Will you help me set the table?” Satomi-mama replied.

Upon hearing the words Shabu Shabu, the blood drained out from Aiba’s face and he stood there stunned for a good half minute before darting back into his room and hiding under his blanket.

“I’m cursed, I’m cursed!” Aiba wailed, leaving his mother to ponder just what had happened.

**Author's Note:**

> Afterword:  
>  [ **Legend of Shabu Shabu Rock** ]  
>  The 'Shabu Shabu' rock in Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang. No, it's not about the Legend of Shabu Shabu. Yes, it's in Chinese. No, I'm too lazy to squint my eyes to try and make out what it's talking about.
> 
> Special thanks to unsup and family for bringing me around and providing the prompt for this story.
> 
> [Shabu shabu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabu-shabu), in case you didn't know, is a Japanese hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables.  
> 


End file.
